HC    I     (A/Oc-i .  "7 '•  G-"^"5*"      -^i^ce^A^  roww^^LrwN^ 


UNIV.  OF  FL  LH. 


r 

»  M      '  n 


INTERSTATE  COMMERCE  COMMISSION. 

U.S.  DEPOSITORY 


INVESTIGATION  OF  ACCIDENT  ON  THE  NEW  YORK,  NEW  HAVEN 
&  HARTFORD  RAILROAD  AT  GREEN'S  FARMS,  CONN.,  ON  NO- 
VEMBER 16,  1912. 

December  18,  1912. 
To  the  Commission  : 

On  November  16,  1912,  there  was  a  derailment  of  a  passenger  train 
on  the  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad  at  Green's 
Farms,  Conn.,  resulting  in  the  injury  of  27  passengers. 

Immediately  upon  receipt  of  telegraphic  notice  of  this  accident 
from  the  railroad  company,  Assistant  Secretary  MeGinty  proceeded 
to  Green's  Farms  and  inspectors  were  ordered  to  the  scene  of  the 
accident  to  assist  in  the  investigation.  A  public  hearing  regarding 
this  accident  was  held  by  me  at  New  Haven,  Conn.,  on  November  20, 
1912,  and  the  Public  Utilities  Commission  of  the  State  of  Connecti- 
cut, which  had  entered  upon  an  investigation  on  its  own  initiative, 
was  invited  to  participate  in  and  was  represented  at  this  hearing. 
The  investigation  of  this  accident  developed  the  following  facts: 
The  derailed  train  was  westbound  passenger  train  No.  23,  known 
as  the  Merchants'  Limited,  running  from  Boston  to  New  York.  It 
consisted  of  engine  No.  1110,  a  combination  baggage  and  parlor  car, 
a  dining  car,  two  parlor  cars,  and  one  observation  car,  all  the  cars 
being  of  wooden  construction  and  having  reenforced  steel  platforms. 
Conductor  Eoss  and  Engineman  Morley  were  in  charge  of  this  train. 
Train  No.  23  left  New  Haven  at  8.20  p.  m.,  on  time,  but  on  ac- 
count of  orders  requiring  reduced  speed  at  Milford,  Naugatuck 
Junction,  and  Bridgeport,  the  train  was  delayed  about  four  minutes. 
At  about  8.52  p.  m.  this  train  passed  tower  No.  53,  at  Green's  Farms, 
and  it  was  derailed  between  this  tower  and  Green's  Farms  station, 
approximately  26  miles  west  of  New  Haven.  The  derailment  oc- 
curred just  west  of  a  crossover  switch  west  of  tower  No.  53. 

This  division  of  the  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad 
is  a  four-track  line  operated  under  the  controlled  manual  block-signal 
system.  Tracks  Nos.  1  and  3  were  being  used  for  westbound  trains,  and 
tracks  Nos.  2  and  4  were  being  used  for  eastbound  trains.  At  the  time 
of  the  derailment  train  No.  23  was  running  on  track  No.  3.  At  the 
place  where  the  accident  occurred  there  is  a  No.  10  crossover  leading 
from  track  No.  1  to  track  No.  3.  The  track  is  straight  and  prac- 
tically level.     It  is  laid  with  30-foot  rails  weighing  100  pounds  to 

71190—13 


the  yard,  with  an  average  of  16  ties  under  each  rail.  During  the 
past  three  years  all  tie  renewals  have  been  made  with  creosoted  ties, 
and  at  the  time  of  the  derailment  about  60  per  cent  of  the  ties  in 
this  vicinity  were  treated  ties.  Tie-plates  and  screw  spikes  are  used 
on  all  treated  ties,  while  on  ties  that  are  not  treated  common  driven 
spikes  are  used.  The  ties  in  many  instances  are  double  spiked  on 
the  outside,  while  all  are  single  spiked  on  the  inside  of  the  rail.  The 
ties  used  are  of  southern  pine  and  native  oak  and  chestnut.  The  bal- 
last is  of  rock,  varying  in  depth  from  14  to  18  inches. 

Train  No.  23  was  reported  past  Fairfield,  about  3  miles  east  of 
Green's  Farms,  at  8.49  p.  m.  and  passed  tower  No.  53  at  8.52  p.  m. 
Just  as  this  train  was  passing  the  tower  at  Green's  Farms  the  parlor- 
car  conductor,  who  was  riding  in  the  front  end  of  the  dining  car, 
heard  a  thumping  noise  as  though  something  was  dragging  under  the 
car.  He  immediately  went  back  to  the  rear  end  of  the  car  and  pulled 
the  whistle  signal  cord,  signaling  the  engineman  to  stop.  The  en- 
gineman  answered  this  signal;  looking  back  he  saw  the  rear  end  of 
the  dining  car  tip  over  to  one  side,  and  he  applied  the  air  brakes  in 
emergency.  When  the  train  came  to  a  stop  the  engine  was  about 
1,400  feet  beyond  the  point  of  derailment.  The  engine,  tender, 
combination  car,  and  dining  car  were  still  coupled  together,  although 
the  dining  car  was  derailed.  The  three  rear  cars  were  derailed  but 
did  not  turn  over.  They  came  to  a  stop  about  600  feet  to  the  rear  of 
the  front  portion  of  the  train. 

An  examination  of  the  derailed  cars  disclosed  the  fact  that  the 
front  equalizer  bar  on  the  south  side  of  the  forward  truck  of  the 
dining  car  had  been  broken.  The  dining  car  was  built  by  the  Pull- 
man Co.  in  1907,  and  had  been  in  service  since  that  time.  The  trucks 
were  standard  Pullman  six-wheel  trucks,  having  a  steel-plated, 
wooden  frame.  There  are  four  equalizer  bars  in  each  truck  of  this 
type,  two  on  each  side.  The  larger  end  of  the  forward  equalizer  bar 
rests  on  the  forward  journal  box  of  the  truck,  the  other  end  resting  on 
the  middle  journal  box.  The  larger  end  of  the  rear  equalizer  bar 
rests  on  the  rear  journal  box  of  the  truck,  the  other  end  resting  on 
the  middle  journal  box,  and  the  two  equalizer  bars  meeting  over  the 
middle  journal  box.  The  journal  boxes  are  free  to  move  up  and 
down  between  the  flanges  of  the  pedestal  jaws,  carrying  the  equalizer 
bars  with  them,  the  ends  of  the  equalizer  bars  resting  on  top  of  the 
journal  boxes.  The  pedestal  is  formed  in  two  parts,  an  inner  and 
an  outer  jaw,  each  having  two  flanges  which  are  cast  together,  the 
jaws  being  bolted  to  the  truck  frame.  The  ends  of  the  equalizer  bar 
come  in  between  the  pedestal  jaws  on  top  of  the  journal  box  and  are 
not  visible  or  accessible  for  an  ordinary  inspection.  The  equalizer 
bar  was  made  of  wrought  iron,  and  at  the  place  where  the  fracture 
occurred  it  was  2>%  inches  wide  and  2f  inches  thick. 


3 

That  part  of  the  forward  equalizer  bar  on  the  south  side  of  the  for- 
ward truck  of  the  dining  car  which  rests  on  top  of  the  front  journal 
box  was  broken  off.  The  larger  part  of  this  fracture  was  new.  There 
was  a  small  defect  or  crack  about  1^  inches  long  and  T\r  inch  deep  in 
the  under  side  of  the  equalizer  bar  in  the  angle  where  it  rested  on  the 
corner  of  the  forward  journal  box.  This  defect  was  so  small  and  so 
located  that  it  could  not  have  been  discovered  by  any  inspection  unless 
the  equalizer  bar  had  been  removed  from  the  truck,  and  the  fracture 
itself  was  hidden  and  could  not  have  been  discovered  by  any  ordinary 
inspection  unless  the  equalizer  bar  had  become  displaced.  It  is 
believed  that  the  fracture  started  with  this  flaw  in  the  equalizer  bar, 
and  that  it  progressed  very  rapidly,  so  that  the  faulty  bar  would  not 
have  been  noticeably  defective  at  the  point  where  the  last  inspection 
was  made.  The  cars  in  this  train  were  inspected  on  arrival  in  Bos- 
ton the  night  before,  and  again  after  the  train  was  made  up  for  this 
trip.  Between  Boston  and  the  point  where  the  accident  occurred 
the  cars  were  inspected  at  Providence,  New  London,  and  New  Haven. 
At  New  Haven  a  broken  dynamo  belt  was  discovered  dragging  under 
the  dining  car,  and  while  an  inspector  was  removing  this  belt  the 
foreman  inspector  himself  inspected  the  south  side  of  the  forward 
truck  of  the  dining  car ;  he  found  nothing  out  of  order. 

About  three-quarters  of  a  mile  east  of  the  point  where  the  derail- 
ment occurred  there  was  a  mark  on  a  tie  outside  of  the  south  rail, 
and  between  that  point  and  the  crossover  switch  where  the  derail- 
ment occurred  13  similar  marks  were  found,  caused  by  the  broken 
equalizer  bar  which  had  dropped  sufficiently  to  strike  the  higher  ties. 
The  bottom  of  the  broken  equalizer  bar  was  worn  smooth,  while  at  the 
turn  near  the  front  end  of  the  car  it  was  scarred  on  the  sides.  At  the 
crossover  the  marks  on  the  ties  indicated  that  the  equalizer  bar  had 
struck  the  insulated  joint  and  the  block  at  the  heel  of  the  frog;  near 
the  switch  point  the  marks  were  deeper  and  more  numerous  than 
elsewhere.  It  wTas  evident  that  the  loosened  equalizer  bar  had  caused 
the  journal  box  and  pedestal  in  the  middle  of  the  truck  to  become 
defective  and  break  down,  allowing  the  equalizer  bar  to  drop.  The 
equalizer  bar  dragged  through  the  trailing  switch,  springing  the 
switch  point,  pushing  the  stock  rail  out  of  place,  and  allowing  the 
wheels  to  drop  from  the  rails. 

On  the  roadway,  some  distance  east  of  where  the  derailment  in- 
curred, the  spring  and  spring  seat  which  ride  on  top  of  the  equalizer 
bar  were  found,  but  the  equalizer  bar  itself  did  not  come  out  of  the 
truck  until  beyond  the  point  of  the  derailment,  It  was  found  near 
the  dining  car  after  the  train  came  to  a  stop. 

It  is  estimated  that  the  speed  of  the  train  at  the  time  of  the  derail- 
ment was  approximately  60  miles  per  hour.  The  schedule  of  this 
train  prescribes  46  minutes  for  a  distance  of  40  miles,  between  New 


HVEBSnYOFFi 


orid* 


„ 11111 

3^08856  5071 

Haven  and  Stamford.  At  the  time  of  tht  -„.miein  the  train  had 
been  delayed  about  4  minutes;  there  were  no  speed  restrictions  in 
effect  at  this  point,  the  track  was  straight  and  the  grade  was  practi- 
cally level,  so  that  conditions  seemed  favorable  for  making  up  lost  time. 
The  distance  which  the  engine,  combination  car,  and  dining  car  ran 
after  the  emergency  application  of  the  brakes  indicates  that  the  train 
was  running  at  high  speed.  Engines  were  changed  at  New  Haven ; 
the  air  brakes  were  tested  there  and  found  in  good  condition.  The 
engineman  used  the  brakes  between  New  Haven  and  Green's  Farms 
and  he  stated  that  they  operated  properly. 

This  derailment  was  caused  by  the  breaking  of  the  equalizer  bar  of 
the  forward  truck  of  the  dining  car,  allowing  the  spring  to  come  out 
and  the  truck  to  break  down;  and  by  the  equalizer  bar  wedging  in 
the  crossover  switch,  throwing  the  rails  out  of  alignment  and  allow- 
ing the  wheels  to  drop  off  the  rails.  There  was  a  defect  in  this 
equalizer  bar,  but  it  was  so  slight  that  it  could  not  have  been  dis- 
covered by  diligent  inspection.  It  was  impossible  to  determine  what 
was  the  immediate  cause  of  its  fracture  at  this  time. 

Respectfully  submitted. 

H.  W.  Belnap, 
Chief  Inspector  of  Safety  Appliances. 

o 


